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<\/p>\nUtah can claim about as much outdoor recreational variety as anywhere in the world; desert, canyons and multiple mountain ranges.\u00a0 One of my favorite areas lies in the northeastern part of the state, the Uintas.\u00a0 Known for incredible high-country lakes, awesome hunting grounds and beautiful alpine scenery, the Uintas have something for everyone, unless you’re looking for big cities.<\/p>\n
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My friends the Campbell’s and I decided to go camping at a very nice area called the Upper Stillwater Reservoir, about 38 miles from Duschesne, Utah.\u00a0 They had been there before and were sure that I’d find it a great place to “kick back” and enjoy the peace and quiet.\u00a0 As always, they were right on the money.<\/p>\n
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We stayed at the Rock Creek Campground, just below the dam.\u00a0 At an altitude of 8,000 feet above sea level, it offers 32 sites which can accommodate tents and RV’s.\u00a0 In terms of facilities it has; picnic tables, fire rings, tent and RV pads, flush toilets and drinking and trash collection.\u00a0 There is no dump station on-site, but you can roll down the road for a mere 3 miles and use the one at the Yellow Pine Campground.<\/p>\n
The reservoir was built in 1987 with the construction of a rolled concrete dam which is a favorite among engineers.\u00a0 It is part of the Central Utah Project, which was developed to utilize the water from the Colorado Plateau.\u00a0 At the time of our visit the dam was being serviced and as such the water level was extremely low.<\/p>\n
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Uses include, but are not limited to: recreation, flood control and fish & wildlife management.\u00a0 The reservoir elevation sits at 8,176 feet with the watershed being the Uinta Mountains, though it is estimated that much of the water is diverted to the Wasatch Front, primarily for crop irrigation.\u00a0 The highest point in the region is Ostler Peak which is an impressive site at 12,717 feet above sea level.<\/p>\n
Our visit to Stillwater turned out be quite the adventure on our late evening hike.\u00a0 We thought it would be fun to explore the Red Creek Trail before dark.\u00a0 The trail is right outside the campground and closely follows the side of the steep mountain.\u00a0 Though it’s fairly level, it is VERY narrow, and that’s where the adventure comes in.\u00a0 We (Myself, Jeff, Rachelle and their two black labs Jesse & Jackson) were tooling along when we heard voices and “mooing”.\u00a0 It turned out that some not-too-bright tourists were herding a bunch of cattle right at us.\u00a0 Did I mention that this trail was VERY narrow with a sheer drop on one side?\u00a0 You get the picture.<\/p>\n
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When the cattle rounded the bend, there we were, all sharing a 2-foot wide trail.\u00a0 The Sherriff (Jackson) went into full protective mode and let out a massive bark which startled the oncoming bovines considerably.\u00a0 One actually jumped off the cliff (don’t know for-sure how it fared, though I think it did survive based on much noise from below, post rolling cow).\u00a0 This slowed the herd sufficiently giving us time to climb into positions of relative safety.\u00a0 The cows passed and so did we.\u00a0 This, though memorable, has to go into the record book as the most traumatic hike to date, I sincerely hope nothing ever replaces it for that dubious honor.<\/p>\n
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We enjoyed a semi-pleasant evening by a campfire, re-living the events of recent hours.\u00a0 The next day after breaking camp, Jeff & Shelly allowed the me luxury of hiking back down the gravel road so I could take tons of photos of the scenery.\u00a0 The drive back to Salt Lake City spoiled us with beautiful high-country farmland.\u00a0 We all wished we could live in such a place.<\/p>\n
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